BRIDGE SLIDE ON HOLD

The long-awaited Milton-Madison bridge slide is under way at U.S. 421 and the Ohio River. Workers began sliding the new 2,427-foot-long truss into it's permanent position atop newly reinforced piers shortly after 8 a.m. today. The slide is expected to take 4-16 hours to complete and another few days to finish work on the approaches before the finished span will be opened to traffic. (Staff photo by Mark Campbell/mcampbell@madisoncourier.com)

High wind gusts and forecasted weather have put the Madison-Milton Bridge slide on hold indefinitely after crews began the slide Wednesday morning.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Andrea Clifford said weather predictions show strong winds for the rest of the afternoon and Thursday with rain showers moving in Thursday night into Friday.

Clifford said Saturday might be the earliest crews could resume the bridge slide.

Officials said the bridge has been moved about 16 feet since workers were able to break the superstructure free from temporary piers Wednesday morning.

Walsh Construction project manager Charlie Gannon said at a media briefing around 11 a.m. that the "breakout" portion of the slide was completed around 8:15 a.m.

Workers began the next step in the slide process - moving the superstructure about 25 feet - when crews decided to make adjustments to the harness assembly connected to the bridge. The superstructure had been moved about a foot at that point.

The bridge slide resumed around noon, moving another 15 feet when wind gusts at the river began to affect the slide procedures, Clifford said.